Hey guys!
Sorry its been a while since last post but internet in Europe is about 100 times more expensive than in Asia!
After spending the weekend with Sabine in Zurich we took the train back to Munich and spent 3 days at Oktoberfest! We met up with John Brooks, Rob S, Cat S, Elise C, and Ben B at their hostel on the first night and had a few beers. The next day we got up early and arrived at Oktoberfest at opening time, luckily it was only a 10 minute walk from our hostel (the way home took a bit longer...) The beer halls quickly filled up from 10 in the morning and you have to order beers by the litre which means it is really easy to get drunk! The beer is also 8%, about twice that of normal beer! After a few steins (3 or 4 litres each) we headed to the rollercoasters which were a lot scarier than normal. Feeling giddy we headed for the food stalls and filled up on bratwurst, bread and giant gherkins, before stumbling home for an afternoon nap.
That evening (3 hours later) Cat and Ben were unable to get up so we left them at home, those who made it returned to Oktoberfest for the second round. After a few more litres of beer (Jack and Rob managed to polish of 8 litres in a day) we discovered fish on a stick (trout with a stick rammed down its throat and stuck over hot coals) which the boys fell in love with. Elise went back to her camping ground and John and I carried the two boys home!
The next day we had a break from the beer for a few hours to visit a concentration camp called Dachau (Jack barely made it out of bed and Rob didn't at all). We had an Irish guide who was very passionate about the history and who Cat immediately fell in love with. Dachau was more of a work camp than a death camp but it still had a gas chamber and a crematorium and when the Americans liberated it there was thousands of dead bodies dumped over the camp. The conditions that the prisoners lived in were disgusting, with over 600 people sleeping in a room designed for 50 and they were not allowed to leave to go to the toilet during the night so the beds were full of crap which spread disease easily. Our guide told us a story of a prisoner who could hear his father dying in the bed next to him and was wishing that he would shut up so the guard wouldn't hear and punish them and also wondering if he had any bread rations that he could steal the next day.
That evening, in a sober mood, we decided to have some more beer. Rob...still recovering...had none. We met lots of different people and managed to smuggle a stein out to give to Laura as a present, unfortunately karma prevailed and it smashed the next morning when we were checking out.
The next morning we headed to the airport and went through the toughest security we have ever seen! I was patted down, my carry on was checked AND they broke the lock of my big backpack, searched through it and not only took out two zippos that Jack bought for his brother but sealed my bag up so it was un-openable when I got it back!
We arrived in Paris to meet Laura who greeted us with chocolate croissants and champagne! Unfortunately, none of us had thought to book accommodation and there was some event on in Paris that weekend so practically EVERY bed was booked out. After wandering around Paris with out bags for about 3 hours we went to an agency that booked us an overpriced bed, however, when we arrived at the hotel we discovered that we had booked it for the night after! Luckily the man let us share a single bed room (for the price of a triple...) Jack slept on the floor.
The next day we went to the sacre cour for a beautiful view of Paris, then we went to the Notre dame which was very nice and ate lots of pastries and baguettes. In the evening the louvre was free for under 26s so we checked out the Mona Lisa and some other cool stuff for free! That evening there was a three bed room available so we had a better nights sleep.
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